Characterizing past climate states is crucial for understanding the future consequences of ongoing greenhouse gas emissions. Here, we revisit the benchmark time series for deep ocean temperature ...across the past 65 million years using clumped isotope thermometry. Our temperature estimates from the deep Atlantic Ocean are overall much warmer compared with oxygen isotope–based reconstructions, highlighting the likely influence of changes in deep ocean pH and/or seawater oxygen isotope composition on classical oxygen isotope records of the Cenozoic. In addition, our data reveal previously unrecognized large swings in deep ocean temperature during early Eocene acute greenhouse warmth. Our results call for a reassessment of the Cenozoic history of ocean temperatures to achieve a more accurate understanding of the nature of climatic responses to tectonic events and variable greenhouse forcing.
Warmer than realized
Past climates may hold important clues about how the planet might respond to ongoing climate warming. Meckler
et al
. use clumped isotope thermometry on benthic foraminifera to reinterpret the record of the deep ocean temperature over the past 65 million years. They found that deep ocean temperatures were generally higher and more variable than earlier work suggests. Their results have implications for our understanding of deep sea temperature responses to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, climate sensitivity, and ocean structure during times of minimal continental ice. —HJS
Greenhouse climates over the past 65 million years had warmer and more variable deep ocean temperatures than was previously believed.
Fluxes of energy, materials and organisms among ecosystems are consequences of their openness to exchange and lead to the consideration of reciprocal connections among adjacent ecosystems. Reciprocal ...connectivity may have implications for ecosystem functioning and management but it is generally studied only for a single factor, rather than for multiple factors. We examined the extent to which these fluxes may apply at the landscape scale for 3 ecosystems: mangrove forests, seagrass beds and coral reefs. From a literature review and analysis, we semi-quantitatively assessed fluxes based on attenuation of wave height and exchanges of sediments, nutrients and algivores. We found that coral reefs and seagrass beds significantly attenuated wave height and that this effect depended on specific physical conditions. In the case of coral reefs, the attenuation capacity depended on the section of the reef the wave breached, whilst for seagrass beds, we hypothesised that the density of the plants was the controlling factor. Mangrove forests’ ability to reduce sediment fluxes was related to the mangrove forest area. Seagrass plants have a capacity to decrease sediments in the water column. Both mangrove forests and seagrass beds retained nutrients within the ecosystems, which was a positive interaction. Isolated reefs showed a decrease (30 to 95%) in algivore biomass compared to situations where the 3 habitats were in proximity to each other. The findings show that there is potential for reciprocal connections among coastal ecosystems. Our results indicate that these exchanges at the ecosystem scale can be placed into the context of facilitation in the field of community ecology. Future research should focus on which natural and anthropogenic factors determine reciprocal facilitation between these ecosystems and determine how ecosystem-based management can be improved with this knowledge. The considerable potential for reciprocal facilitation implies that ecosystem managers may need to place greater emphasis on the landscape scale.
Increased use and improved methodology of carbonate clumped isotope thermometry has greatly enhanced our ability to interrogate a suite of Earth‐system processes. However, interlaboratory ...discrepancies in quantifying carbonate clumped isotope (Δ47) measurements persist, and their specific sources remain unclear. To address interlaboratory differences, we first provide consensus values from the clumped isotope community for four carbonate standards relative to heated and equilibrated gases with 1,819 individual analyses from 10 laboratories. Then we analyzed the four carbonate standards along with three additional standards, spanning a broad range of δ47 and Δ47 values, for a total of 5,329 analyses on 25 individual mass spectrometers from 22 different laboratories. Treating three of the materials as known standards and the other four as unknowns, we find that the use of carbonate reference materials is a robust method for standardization that yields interlaboratory discrepancies entirely consistent with intralaboratory analytical uncertainties. Carbonate reference materials, along with measurement and data processing practices described herein, provide the carbonate clumped isotope community with a robust approach to achieve interlaboratory agreement as we continue to use and improve this powerful geochemical tool. We propose that carbonate clumped isotope data normalized to the carbonate reference materials described in this publication should be reported as Δ47 (I‐CDES) values for Intercarb‐Carbon Dioxide Equilibrium Scale.
Key Points
The exclusive use of carbonate reference materials is a robust method for the standardization of clumped isotope measurements
Measurements using different acid temperatures, designs of preparation lines, and mass spectrometers are statistically indistinguishable
We propose new consensus values for a set of seven carbonate reference materials and updated guidelines to report clumped isotope measurements
Aim: Neutrophil migration in the intestine depends on chemotaxis of neutrophils to CXC chemokines produced by epithelial cells. The goal of this project was to determine if acute induction of a CXC ...chemokine gradient originating from intestinal epithelial cells is sufficient to induce neutrophil influx into intact intestinal tissue. Methods and results: The authors developed a double transgenic mouse model with doxycycline induced human IL-8 expression restricted to intestinal epithelial cells. Doxycycline treatment of double transgenic mice for three days resulted in a 50-fold increase in the caecal IL-8 concentration and influx of neutrophils into the lamina propria. Although neutrophils entered the paracellular space between epithelial cells, complete transepithelial migration was not observed. Doxycycline treatment also increased the water content of the caecal and colonic stool, indicating dysfunctional water transport. However, the transmural electrical resistance was not decreased. Neutrophils recruited to the intestinal epithelium did not show evidence of degranulation and the epithelium remained intact as judged by histology. Conclusions: This conditional transgenic model of chemokine expression provides evidence that acute induction of IL-8 in the intestinal epithelium is sufficient to trigger neutrophil recruitment to the lamina propria, but additional activation signals are needed for full activation and degranulation of neutrophils, mucosal injury, and complete transepithelial migration.
Problem gambling (PG) is a serious public health concern that disproportionately affects people experiencing poverty, homelessness, and multimorbidity including mental health and substance use ...concerns. Little research has focused on self-help and self-management in gambling recovery, despite evidence that a substantial number of people do not seek formal treatment. This study explored the literature on PG self-management strategies. Self-management was defined as the capacity to manage symptoms, the intervention, health consequences and altered lifestyle that accompanies a chronic health concern.
We searched 10 databases to identity interdisciplinary articles from the social sciences, allied health professions, nursing and psychology, between 2000 and June 28, 2017. We reviewed records for eligibility and extracted data from relevant articles. Studies were included in the review if they examined PG self-management strategies used by adults (18+) in at least a subset of the sample, and in which PG was confirmed using a validated diagnostic or screening tool.
We conducted a scoping review of studies from 2000 to 2017, identifying 31 articles that met the criteria for full text review from a search strategy that yielded 2662 potential articles. The majority of studies examined self-exclusion (39%), followed by use of workbooks (35%), and money or time limiting strategies (17%). The remaining 8% focused on cognitive, behavioural and coping strategies, stress management, and mindfulness.
Given that a minority of people with gambling concerns seek treatment, that stigma is an enormous barrier to care, and that PG services are scarce and most do not address multimorbidity, it is important to examine the personal self-management of gambling as an alternative to formalized treatment.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Context: Zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) is a newly discovered islet autoantigen in human type 1A diabetes (T1D).
Objective: The objective was to document changes in ZnT8 autoantibody (ZnT8A) titer and ...prevalence after onset of disease in relationship to 65 kDa glutamate decarboxylase antibody (GADA) and islet cell antigen antibody (IA2A).
Design/Patients: Autoantibody radioimmunoprecipitation assays were performed on sera from three groups: 21 individuals monitored every 3 months from diagnosis for 2.5 yr; 61 individuals monitored at six monthly intervals for 5–12 yr; and a cross-sectional study of 424 patients with T1D of 20–57 yr duration. Circulating C-peptide was determined as an index of residual β-cell function.
Results: ZnT8A titers declined exponentially from clinical onset of T1D with a t1/2 ranging from 26 to 530 wk, similar to C-peptide (23–300 wk). Life-table analysis of antibody prevalence to 12 yr indicated that ZnT8A measured with either Arg325 or Trp325 probes persisted for a shorter interval than IA2A. Although prevalence of ZnT8A, IA2A, and GADA were comparable at disease onset (70.4 vs. 73.4 vs. 64%), only 6.7% of individuals remained ZnT8A positive after 25 yr compared with 19.5% for IA2A and 25.9% for GADA. Titers of ZnT8A and IA2A in seropositive individuals decreased progressively, whereas GADA remained elevated consistent with periodic reactivation of GADA humoral autoimmunity.
Conclusions: ZnT8 humoral autoreactivity declines rapidly in the first years after disease onset and is less persistent than IA2A or GADA in the longer term. ZnT8A determination may be a useful measure of therapeutic efficacy in the context of immune-based clinical interventions.
ZnT8 autoantibody titer declines rapidly post-onset of type 1 diabetes, and its prevalence falls from 70% initially to less than 10% within 20 years.
Epidemiological studies have examined breast cancer risk in relation to sex hormone concentrations measured by different methods: “extraction” immunoassays (with prior purification by organic solvent ...extraction, with or without column chromatography), “direct” immunoassays (no prior extraction or column chromatography), and more recently with mass spectrometry-based assays. We describe the associations of estradiol, estrone and testosterone with both body mass index and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women according to assay method, using data from a collaborative pooled analysis of 18 prospective studies. In general, hormone concentrations were highest in studies that used direct assays and lowest in studies that used mass spectrometry-based assays. Estradiol and estrone were strongly positively associated with body mass index, regardless of the assay method; testosterone was positively associated with body mass index for direct assays, but less clearly for extraction assays, and there were few data for mass spectrometry assays. The correlations of estradiol with body mass index, estrone and testosterone were lower for direct assays than for extraction and mass spectrometry assays, suggesting that the estimates from the direct assays were less precise. For breast cancer risk, all three hormones were strongly positively associated with risk regardless of assay method (except for testosterone by mass spectrometry where there were few data), with no statistically significant differences in the trends, but differences may emerge as new data accumulate. Future epidemiological and clinical research studies should continue to use the most accurate assays that are feasible within the design characteristics of each study.
Sixteen pulsars have been discovered so far in blind searches of photons collected with the Large Area Telescope on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We here report the discovery of radio ...pulsations from two of them. PSR J1741-2054, with period P = 413 ms, was detected in archival Parkes telescope data and subsequently has been detected at the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Its received flux varies greatly due to interstellar scintillation and it has a very small dispersion measure of DM = 4.7 pc cm-3, implying a distance of 0.4 kpc and possibly the smallest luminosity of any known radio pulsar. At this distance, for isotropic emission, its gamma-ray luminosity above 0.1 GeV corresponds to 28% of the spin-down luminosity of erg s-1. The gamma-ray profile occupies 1/3 of pulse phase and has three closely spaced peaks with the first peak lagging the radio pulse by Delta *d = 0.29 P. We have also identified a soft Swift source that is the likely X-ray counterpart. In many respects PSR J1741-2054 resembles the Geminga pulsar. The second source, PSR J2032+4127, was detected at the GBT. It has P = 143 ms, and its DM = 115 pc cm-3 suggests a distance of 3.6 kpc, but we consider it likely that it is located within the Cyg OB2 stellar association at half that distance. The radio emission is nearly 100% linearly polarized, and the main radio peak precedes by Delta *d = 0.15 P the first of two narrow gamma-ray peaks that are separated by Delta *D = 0.50 P. The second peak has a harder spectrum than the first one, following a trend observed in young gamma-ray pulsars. Faint, diffuse X-ray emission in a Chandra image is possibly its pulsar wind nebula. The wind of PSR J2032+4127 is responsible for the formerly unidentified HEGRA source TeV J2032+4130. PSR J2032+4127 is coincident in projection with MT91 213, a Be star in Cyg OB2, although apparently not a binary companion of it.
We report the discovery of eight gamma-ray pulsars in blind frequency searches using the LAT, onboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Five of the eight pulsars are young (tau_c<100 kyr), ...energetic (Edot>10^36 erg/s), and located within the Galactic plane (|b|<3 deg). The remaining three are older, less energetic, and located off the plane. Five pulsars are associated with sources included in the LAT bright gamma-ray source list, but only one, PSR J1413-6205, is clearly associated with an EGRET source. PSR J1023-5746 has the smallest characteristic age (tau_c=4.6 kyr) and is the most energetic (Edot=1.1E37 erg/s) of all gamma-ray pulsars discovered so far in blind searches. PSRs J1957+5033 and J2055+25 have the largest characteristic ages (tau_c~1 Myr) and are the least energetic (Edot~5E33 erg/s) of the newly-discovered pulsars. We present the timing models, light curves, and detailed spectral parameters of the new pulsars. We used recent XMM observations to identify the counterpart of PSR J2055+25 as XMMU J205549.4+253959. In addition, publicly available archival Chandra X-ray data allowed us to identify the likely counterpart of PSR J1023-5746 as a faint, highly absorbed source, CXOU J102302.8-574606. The large X-ray absorption indicates that this could be among the most distant gamma-ray pulsars detected so far. PSR J1023-5746 is positionally coincident with the TeV source HESS J1023-575, located near the young stellar cluster Westerlund 2, while PSR J1954+2836 is coincident with a 4.3 sigma excess reported by Milagro at a median energy of 35 TeV. Deep radio follow-up observations of the eight pulsars resulted in no detections of pulsations and upper limits comparable to the faintest known radio pulsars, indicating that these can be included among the growing population of radio-quiet pulsars in our Galaxy being uncovered by the LAT, and currently numbering more than 20.